The Office of Vocations, Faith Formation Office and several directors of religious education (DREs) are offering a Vocations Encounter Night for youth grades seven through 12 on Nov. 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Our Lady of the Plains Parish, St. Mary Church in Lake City in the parish center. All youth are welcome to attend. There is no cost to participate. Doors will open at 5 p.m.

(bilingual - Spanish below) Pope Leo XIV, a former missionary priest and bishop in Peru, and the first successor of St. Peter born in the United States, has become the first Pope to record a video message asking Catholics across the globe to help him support missionaries across the globe. El Papa León XIV, otrora sacerdote y obispo misionero en Perú, y primer sucesor de San Pedro nacido en Estados Unidos, se ha convertido en el primer pontífice en grabar un mensaje en video pidiendo a los católicos de todo el mundo que lo ayuden a apoyar a los misioneros en todo el planeta.

LeMars Gehlen Catholic School announced the overwhelming success of its annual Jaywalk-a-thon student fundraiser, which raised more than $46,000 to support faith-based education and student programs.

Bishop John E. Keehner and Sioux City Cathedral Parish are hosting the fourth annual White Mass Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Epiphany to honor and pray for health care workers.

As the diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning continually reviews data and statistics to gauge activities throughout the Diocese of Sioux City, staff noticed that Calendar Year 2024 showed an uptick in participation in the faith, despite recent challenges.

As the presence of the Bible-based character education program Lifewise Academy spreads across the country including in the Diocese of Sioux City, some questions and concerns pertaining to the program’s curriculum and alignment with Catholic teaching have arisen. “Lifewise Academy is an organization that works with local communities to provide Bible-based character education during the school day in accordance with national laws that allow these classes to occur as long as they are off of school property, are privately funded and are parent permitted,” said Karmen Bower, diocesan director of faith formation, who noted that parents must opt their children into these classes.

Column by Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT It is a simple fact that our lives are lived out in the interaction between three realities: God, (including Mary, the angels and saints, the Church Suffering or Purgatory), ourselves (including all of our human relationships) and the evil one (including the many fallen spirits that work with him). Each of these three realities is characterized by a certain spirit.

Having effectively trained priests, deacons and seminarians is important to the life of the church and ministry to the Catholic faithful. The St. Joseph Education Society (SJES) in the Diocese of Sioux City was established to help in that effort by supporting the education and formation of clergy – both priests and deacons – before and after ordination. Catholics of the diocese can join in this effort by contributing to the special collection for the St. Joseph Education Society that will be taken up in parishes Nov. 1-2.

(Bilingual) The USCCB is encouraging the faithful to pray a novena for mental health from Oct. 10 to 18 as Oct. 10 is World Mental Health Day.

(CNS) In his first major document, Pope Leo XIV says Scripture and tradition clearly show that "God has a special place in his heart" for the poor and oppressed, and he asks his church "to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest."

A family mentoring program at Fort Dodge St. Edmond School serves both as a way to welcome new families as well as to help them navigate their new school. Once mentored themselves, the Ponce family is now serving as mentors to a new St. Edmond family.

The special Jubilee of Migrants and Jubilee of the Missions were held at the Vatican on the same weekend, giving Pope Leo XIV an opportunity to talk about the connection between sharing the Gospel and welcoming newcomers -- both of which are Christian obligations.

The Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of Missions are both being celebrated in Rome this weekend. Pope Leo XIV joined the two themes earlier this week when he met with participants discussing migration at a conference in Rome sponsored by Villanova University, the U.S. bishops and the Vatican.

Anne Loew, nurse practitioner from Carroll, serves homeless veterans through the Veterans Administration Central Iowa. She manages their health care, is on the team to provide basic necessities for the veterans and ensures the veterans are heard. "It's not anything that I'm doing, I'm trying to let God work through me," she said.

The diocesan Office of Worship and Office of Faith Formation have teamed up to offer a unique tool to assist parish OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) teams. The limited series podcast, OCIA Deep Dive, is available to assist any team member navigating the transition to OCIA.

A series of workshops for young girls and their mothers will be offered in four locations in the diocese to assist girls ages 9-11 understand their changing bodies. The Office of Faith Formation is partnering with the Catholic Schools Office to offer the Cycle Prep workshops in the Diocese of Sioux City. “Cycle Prep is for mothers and daughters. It helps them prepare for the daughter’s changing body as she transitions into adulthood,” said Karmen Bower.

Sixteen seminarians from the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) were ordained to the transitional diaconate Oct. 2 during a celebration of the Eucharist in Rome. Thomas Kollasch, diocesan seminarian from Bancroft, was one of the men ordained at the Mass.

A series of workshops on the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) were led by presenters from the Liturgy Training Publications (LTP) in the Diocese of Sioux City Sept. 25-27 at St. Mary Parish in Storm Lake. According to Karmen Bower, director of the Office of Faith Formation for the diocese, her office co-sponsored the presentations with the Office of Worship in collaboration with Clergy Continuing Education. “This was a great opportunity for collaboration between the offices so we had pastors, parish leaders and lay volunteers all hearing essentially the same message,” she said.

It was not coincidental to be gathered for the Blue Mass on the Feast of the Archangels Bishop John E. Keehner stated at the Mass celebrated Sept. 29 at Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City to honor first responders. Just as the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are heavenly messengers and spiritual guardians, the bishop said the men and women in uniform selflessly give of themselves.

Nine middle and high school age parishioners of Storm Lake St. Mary Parish tried something new on Sept. 9 – attending 7 a.m. daily Mass as a group. After the Mass, they enjoyed donuts together in the parish center before heading off to their respective schools.